Sweet Heart (The Hearts of Sawyers Bend #2) - Ivy Layne Page 0,44
dishes in the sink, avoiding my grandmother's eyes.
“You go on, baby. We've got this. Don't stay up too late, okay? You need your sleep.”
“I won't,” I lied, and pressed a kiss to her cheek. I'd do anything for Grams. Anything except tell her the truth about her son and the money he almost certainly wasn't going to pay back.
I walked home with my head down, studying the screen of my phone. Out of habit, I'd started to text J.T., but as I pulled up our message thread, I realized the person I really wanted to talk to was Royal. I didn't know why. My best friend would understand about my dad without any explanation. So, why did I want Royal?
I pushed away the desire to hear Royal's voice and texted J.T.
Guess what? Dad showed up tonight. Says he has business in town.
Nothing for an endless minute. I walked down the block, seeing tourists pass me by, spotting the Sweetheart sign all the way at the other end of the street. I'd lied to Grams a little. I was done with setup, I'd just needed to get out of there.
Finally, three dots appeared on the text screen.
WTF? Do you want me to come home? I know things have been tense with him…
Yep, J.T. knew things had been tense, though I hadn't told him why. He figured it was the usual. In some ways, it was. The money just added an extra layer to the complicated relationship I had with my parents. I was debating my response when the phone rang in my hand. J.T.'s face showed on the screen.
“Hey,” I answered. “How's school?”
“It's great. Are you okay?” His voice sounded muffled like he was keeping it low for privacy.
“I just left family dinner at Grams' house. Dad spent the whole time bragging about Tampa and the poker games he won. Telling us he was going to send us to the spa.”
J.T. laughed. I could picture him shaking his head as he usually did when it came to my dad. “Did he hit you up for your credit card for the spa before or after dinner?”
“I think he's waiting on that. He said he has business in town. I asked him not to get into any trouble but—”
“Fuck. That doesn't sound good. Since we know it's not like he got a job.”
“I know. I just, I don't know, J.T.—”
A voice filtered in from the background on J.T.'s end. “Hey man, you want me to tell them we're gonna be late?”
I wanted to ask J.T. who he was with and where they were going. Not to be nosy, just because he was my friend and I wanted to know about his life like I used to. Patience, Daisy, I reminded myself. “I'm okay if you need to go, J.T.”
“You don't sound okay, Daze. You sound like shit. I can come home. I have to get up early for class, but I'll come home, and we'll raid the bakery case for cookies and watch a movie.”
That sounded so good, but I couldn't take him up on it. It wasn't much after six, but it would take almost an hour to get here from Asheville and J.T. had to be at class at six-thirty in the morning.
I loved that he loved me enough to come home anyway, and I loved him enough not to let him.
“It's a date for the weekend,” I said. “I'm going to try to go to bed early. And it sounds like you have something fun on for tonight. I don't want you to miss it for me.”
“You sure? You know if you need me all you have to do is call.”
I knew he meant it, and that was enough to have tears springing to my eyes. I missed him now that he was gone so much, but a part of me was fiercely glad he was out there forging a life for himself. He'd been hiding away with me and Grams for way too long.
“I know. I love you. Go have fun.”
“Love you too, Daze.”
We hung up and I kept walking, feeling like I'd lost something, which was stupid because J.T. was still my best friend, and he always would be. He absolutely would have come home if I needed him to, just like if he needed me I'd drop everything to get to him.
But he had that friend waiting for him. The friend he still hadn't told me about.